Alaric McCarthy

Born on a tiny coral atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Alaric McCarthy has always been fascinated by culture, sustainable energy use and development, and marine conservation.

Alaric came to Dunedin to study zoology and geography before completing a Master’s degree in Environmental Science at the University of Otago. His research took him back to the tropics, where he investigated how solar radiation and the ‘ozone hole’ affect vulnerable parts of the food web across different latitudes.

Alaric has worked as an assistant research fellow at the Centre for Sustainability since 2011 on various projects. In 2013 Alaric joined the Energy Cultures 2 project. Initially he was involved in the household energy advice study, investigating the effect of providing different methods of home energy advice to residents of three Dunedin suburbs. He also worked on a project investigating future sustainable transport systems in New Zealand through the use of a Delphi Technique survey with local and international transportation experts.

In 2015 Alaric joined the GREEN Grid project team. He has been undertaking analysis of the national household survey to explore patterns of appliance ownership and use, as well as trends in ownership over time. He has also been looking at how a variety of data sets (including household surveys, appliance audits, highly granular energy monitoring, and time use diaries) can be used to collectively provide richer insights into household energy demand.